Beak50
Member
Looking at the ballistics it would seem that they would have been more then content with the 7x57?http://www.thehighroad.org/images/smilies/confused.gif
Basically, the military minds of the era didn't find the cost/benefit ratio of switching calibers to be high enough to justify a switch. Also remember that Hitler was very conservative in his views of infantry armament, and he even originally opposed development of the MKb 42 (The rifle was originally called the Maschinenkarabiner 1942, literally machine carbine, later to be developed in to the STG 44). The project was halted several times by Hitler, who did not like the idea of the project; however, eventually he was won over after having the weapon demonstrated to him.I know the Nazis never used the 7x57 the question is why didn't they use it instead of the 8x57 that is slower.I know the German 8x57 196gr. had a high B.C.
During the design of the commission the idea was that a .32 cal offered a better "bleed" out hole. That and 7 was considered bad luck. Apparently 7.92 is not...The never adopted the 7x57 in the first place. The cartridge was adopted by many countries, but Germany's military used the 8x57 all the way back to the Gewehr 88. Ballistics are only a small part of why a military force chooses a cartridge.